Ice (Rework)
by Kage3
Summary: Set before and during the events of the game, Rufus and Tifa encounter each other at multiple times during their lives. Is Rufus really the person everyone thinks he is? Does he really have control over his future? This is my created answers to the questions that I had throughout the game.


A/N: To those who are interested, this is an edited version of my first Rufus/Tifa fan fiction: Ice. I'm going back through it and fixing it up to make it easier to read, and to add clarifiers and detail if needed. Judging by the first (and second, since it was only like 2 pages long) this seems like it will be a fairly quick project. I'm excited to go back through this; so many memories are attached to this fic. It makes my heart melt.

* * *

It was surprisingly quiet along the beach. A young boy sat looking out at the sea with his knees drawn to his chest. His eyes weren't really focused on the horizon, however. His thoughts were swirling about his head like a storm.

"Um, I said hello, did you hear me?" A voice suddenly broke into his heavy thoughts.

His head shot up from resting on his arm. "What?"

"Hi! I'm Tifa. What's your name?" said a young girl who was standing next to him. Her laughing cherry eyes glittered when she smiled, and the gentle breeze blew strands of long dark mahogany hair across her grinning face. Her hair was loosely tied back, near the end of the flowing ponytail.

He merely glanced at her and promptly crossed his arms before his eyebrows drew down into an irritated expression. "Rufus. What's it to you?" His blonde hair moved in the light breeze and fell across his flashing ice blue eyes.

She giggled.

Was she laughing at him? "What's so funny?" he demanded, which only seemed to make her giggle louder.

"Heh, it's just that you sound like my grandpa; all grumpy and acting like you don't care. Why don't you act more like a kid? You can't be more than 13." She replied between breaks in her random glee.

He didn't realize he sounded 'grumpy'. His expression didn't change, but he started to open up to the conversation. "I turned 12 a week ago. It's why I'm here in Costa del Sol, dad sent me here for my birthday. How old are you?"

She giggled again, increasing his puzzlement from her earlier laughing fit. "Sorry... Hehe. Um, I'm about to turn 13 in about 2 months. We came here to Costa del Sol for vacation. Though I'm kinda bummed, I really wanted to go to Golden Saucer; I've never been there."

The boy grinned finally, as if winning something. "Ha. I've been there tons of times."

She gave him a sidelong glance, smiling slightly. "You don't have to brag. When are you going?"

He shrugged. "Whenever I want. I have a lifetime pass. I just have to walk up and flash the card."

The girl's cherry eyes lit up. "Really?! Well, maybe I can go with you?"

His icy eyes widened. What would he do if anyone saw him with a girl? On the other hand, she was really pretty; her eyes were intriguing. He shrugged. "What, like today? I guess I could use some company. So, okay I guess."

She smiled wide, her eyes glittering again, catching the sunlight. "Stay right here, I'll be right back. I have to tell my daddy and then we can go, ok?"

He shrugged. "Whatever."

The blonde boy waited for the brunette girl to come back. He stuffed his hands in his pockets. He barely knew this Tifa. Normally he wouldn't have answered anyone when they addressed him. He usually went to Costa del Sol to surf by himself and occasionally go to Golden Saucer. What on earth possessed him to even acknowledge this girl? He rarely spoke to anyone after the incident that left him motherless. Truth be told, his father sent him to Costa del Sol this time because Rufus was apparently "depressing him".

Tifa almost skipped back to him. "We can go now, k?"

He couldn't help but raise an eyebrow at her incessant cheerfulness.

Once they arrived at the station, Rufus strolled off the air car over to the ticket woman and flashed his lifetime pass. "Alright, you can go," she began, smiling at the young couple. "Have a great time at Golden Saucer you two."

Tifa giggled.

Rufus sighed, tired of wondering what that intimidating giggle meant. "No offense or anything, but why the hell do you keep giggling?"

She stiffened for a moment before she just shrugged. "I dunno, I think it's 'cause I don't really know you and this feels like a date. Not to mention I've never been here before."

Rufus' eyes widened and he stepped back. "A… a date?"

She giggled again. "It's not really a date, silly. I just said it feels like one."

He smiled, not realizing it.

She grinned back. "That's the first time I've actually seen you smile! Why don't you smile more often?"

The smile quickly dropped off his face.

"Oh come on, you act like someone just died." she said.

He stopped and turned from her. So naïve... But still, how could she know that just last month, he had witnessed his own mother's death at his father's hands. He had always feared his father, mostly for his mother's life, and now he was terrified for his own. His hatred for his father grew with each glance at a ShinRa symbol.

Hell. Tifa wouldn't know or understand the horror of it all. To the public's knowledge, the first lady died in a tragic car accident, President Shinra had feigned it well.

"Did I say something wrong?" Rufus' young companion asked innocently, shaking him from his thoughts.

He shook his head. "No, no, it's just that my mother died a month ago."

Tifa gasped and put a hand to her mouth. "Oh my god, I'm so sorry. I didn't know..."

There it was, more apologizing. Many people did, they knew what a good woman Rachael del Vine Shinra was; a kind, loving wife and mother. She was the exact opposite of her husband. Their marriage had been pre-arranged by their parents, to unify and promote their already rich families.

"It's ok, I'll live." He replied, a bit more sullenly than he intended.

Tifa didn't let him finish. She started to pull him toward a café.

The café was rather empty, considering it was close to lunchtime. "So, Rufus, tell me about yourself. You've been awfully quiet since we've met."

He shrugged. "I'm always like this. What do you want to know?"

She smiled warmly. "Anything. You look like you could use someone to talk to, and I'm all ears. So, are you gonna let me in on your secrets?"

He paused. ".. Well..." He didn't like to talk about himself or his history, but for some reason, he felt like he could tell her just about anything. But why?

The brunette grinned. "Come on, you don't have to be scared." She teased. The ending word of her sentence jumped at him.

He flinched. "I'm not scared!" he replied, grimacing at her. "Do you even know who I am?"

Tifa shrugged and smiled. "Yeah, you're Rufus."

"Yes, Rufus Shinra."

"So?" She tugged at a loose strand of hair.

He couldn't believe this girl wasn't scared of him. Just the name Shinra made most cringe.

When he didn't answer her, she jumped back into the conversation. "So what's it like being rich? I bet you get spoiled rotten in that big mansion you live in." She queried with an air of excitement.

Rufus' sapphire eyes went wide. "You mean you're not scared?"

She shrugged. "Of what? Why would I be scared? You're a normal human being just like me, right? Not some kind of cyborg thing?"

"Cyborg?" He was trying very hard to figure out her strange line of questioning.

"Yeah, your eyes look weird. Well, not weird, it's just that, they glow. Actually, I think they're really pretty." She blushed.

He couldn't help but smile at the girl's naive nature.

"You know, you should smile more, you look cuter when you're happy." She claimed, sipping on her soda straw before winking at him.

This shocked him. Tifa had to be the strangest female he ever met. It was as if she didn't care about who he was, or how much money or power he had. She treated him, well, as an equal. Usually people couldn't look him in the face after they'd found out who he was. This fiery-eyed girl seemed to pierce his soul and melt into his own icy eyes.

"Now tell me about your life!" she exclaimed, somewhat demanding, yet gently; not like his father who seemed to yell all the time. "I have a question, and you're probably gonna call me rude, but did your mom really die in a car wreck? I just don't think it fits."

"Well." he paused. "No." What the hell am I doing? He hadn't spoken about this with anyone. Not to mention, if anyone _found out_ he'd spoken about it, his father would probably make sure he followed his mother's unfortunate path.

Tifa gasped. "I knew it!" She watched him take a deep breath.

"My father killed my mother," He saw his friend gasp again, this time out of horror. "It was last month, during a thunderstorm. They were having another one of their arguments, they'd yell at the top of their lungs; father would hit mother. She had decided to bring up the subject of his mistresses, with no fear of his reaction. He brought out his gun. They traded some nasty words and names. Mother was miserable, she didn't care whether she died or not, as long as it would get her out of the ShinRa lifestyle. She knew about the family company's uses and abuses of Mako, and how it's slowly killing the planet. She never wanted to be a part of that." Rufus let his story flood out.

Tifa sat quietly on the other side of the table, listening intently to his past. She had no idea that the story would be this bad. No wonder he wasn't a very happy-looking child.

The boy continued. "I think the only person she could truly talk to was me. She trusted no one else. Father knew she didn't care to live, but he also knew she feared for my life above all else. So he threatened that he'd kill me and use one of his other children outside the business as an heir. That seems to be all that I am to father. My mother got angry and attacked him. That was the last thing he expected; in his surprise, he fired two shots. One hit my mother dead on. The other grazed my side."

"Father stood there, looking down at my mother, not positive of what he'd done. He dropped the gun and ran from the room, most likely scared of what the media would do to him on the news. I crawled over to my mother, the pain in my side felt like fire licking at my skin. Mother was still alive, but barely, handing on to life by a thread. Blood stained her blouse from the wound in her chest and blood was spilling out of her mouth; she coughed, trying to tell me something. Her final words." he paused, his eyes wide as if he were witnessing it all over again. "She said, 'I'm sorry Rufus, to leave you here all alone. I have faith in you; don't be like your father. Remember, I love you.' As I held her hand, her grip wilted. The blood from her wounds pooled around us, mixing with the blood from mine. That was the first night I'd cried in a long time." He quietly looked across the table at Tifa.

Her own cheeks were damp with tears; her eyes were red and puffy. "Oh my God, Rufus; I'm so sorry." She whispered. "Here I was thinking you had it good, getting everything you want. Instead, your life sucks." She said suddenly, surprising him.

Rufus smiled, not a happy smile, but a depressed attempt.


End file.
